Tag Archives: dark fantasy

I had a major error with Amazon this week! When I posted before about the release of Gilded Destiny, you were likely brought to a dead link. The link is now live and in action, and I’d so appreciate if you’d check it out – I put the price down to $.99 to apologize for the delay. Thanks for your patience with me! Also… here are some additional giveaway details!

I’m giving away a $50 iTunes giftcard with the blog tour for Gilded Destiny, so click here to enter! If you subscribe above, you can earn ten additional entries in the giveaway.

In addition, I have a giveaway for a signed paperback copy of Gilded Destiny going on over at my Goodreads page for the book. Do check it out if you get a chance. The image shows the old book cover, but I actually only have the new book cover in stock so that’s the one you’ll get. 😀

Calli’s memory returns when she falls in love with the monster who took it from her. Nycholas, a deadly, serpentine Vesper on the run from his brutal master, wants one thing before his final darkness falls:
Calli, for three nights.

My deepest apologies for the hiccup with Amazon! Everything should be available now on all platforms, so if you have any difficulty with purchase, please just let me know.

I saw this photo on Einherjar the Vikings of Reykjavik’s FB Page, and it was so applicable to a quote in my book that I smashed them together. Enjoy!

“I whispered to her mind that I loved her, and that I wouldn’t be doing this if I didn’t love her as much as the sun ever loved the moon, though they had to rise on opposite sides of the Earth by the necessity of their guardianship over the night and day. Like the lunar and solar bodies, both of which graced us with their touch in our endless night by the moonlight and the Aurora Borealis, Desiree and I could no longer walk side by side. It was on different planes that we were damned to exist, despite our deepest desires to hold each other tightly forever.” – Book 4 of the Vesper Series: Steel Triumph

I submitted my manuscript to a publisher, who asked to meet with me after he read the first chapter. He said he had 46 notes to review with me, a number that disturbed me.

I was right to be disturbed by his assessment, as he was far less than thrilled with the sample pages I provided. But this particular publisher was more than helpful, regardless… He offered to set me up with an already-published author for some guidance and we talked for over an hour about writing and parenting. Even though the meeting was a rejection, it was educational and extremely beneficial and he seconded what Cathy Ostlere (award-winning author of Karma) told me: the first chapter needs to begin with action.

He gave me some books to read and I left the meeting pondering the female character of my book. Do I actually like her? Do I want to change her altogether?

I sat down with Ireene and hashed out some ideas. Ireene has a unique perspective on things, being very similar to me in attitude and preferences and yet somehow a stronger-willed individual than myself. We came up with a few ideas and I set to work.

34 pages into the re-write, I questioned my own motives. Was I rewriting the character because she did not fit the story, or because she did not fit one particular publisher’s ideals for the way I want to tell the story? Was I overreacting to the rejection and trying to adjust the story too severely?

I may still continue with the complete adaptation of the main female character, or I may not. But I did write a new version of the first chapter, opening with action and concise thought rather than vague reasoning and discretion. I will continue with both ideas until something just clicks and I know it’s right.

After I forwarded the new chapter to Cathy Ostlere, I received a quick reply saying that she is making some contacts for me with the synopsis of my book. CUE EXCITED SQUEALING HERE. I hope something comes of that, but if not, at least my confidence got a much-needed boost. I’m going to simply press the pause on the rewrite of the first book until I’m more decided (and until after I get Ireene’s impression of the rewrite) and proceed with the rewrite of the second, which I am confident about.

Onward and upward as always, refusing to judge myself based on one publisher’s opinion!